Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, may retreat to a bunker amid reports of a severe flu outbreak in the Kremlin. According to TASS, this year’s H1N1 flu strain will have a significant impact on Russia. The change occurs after officials declared that Putin would not hold his customary end-of-year press conference.
The head of the Federal Service for current Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and also Human Wellbeing, Anna Popova, said exclusively to the Rossiya-1 TV channel, “Yes, the flu came to stay this year. The fact that this flu variant specifically causes the most serious health harm is the situation’s most unpleasant aspect. This 2009 pandemic year’s H1N1 influenza A virus. It first appeared in 2009 as a flu strain with a high potential for spread, which started the 2009–2020 pandemic.
Russia issues a directive for its military to leave Kherson City in Ukraine
The head of the Federal Service for main Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and also Human Wellbeing, Anna Popova, said exclusively to the Rossiya-1 TV channel, “Yes, the flu came to stay this year. The fact that this flu variant specifically causes the most serious health harm is the situation’s most unpleasant aspect. This 2009 pandemic year’s H1N1 influenza A virus. It first appeared in 2009 as a flu strain with a high potential for spread, which started the 2009–2020 pandemic.
She also urged people to use protective measures like masks, wash their hands, faces, and gadgets, and keep their respiratory passages clear. She also urged people to stay inside if they start to experience any symptoms.
Putin: Symptoms and Treatment for H1N1 (Swine Flu)
A strain of influenza known as H1N1 (also known as the “Swine Flu”) originated in pigs. Fever, cough, sore throat, chills, weakness, and body aches are among the symptoms.
From June 2009 to August 2010, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the swine flu. However, it is still a seasonal virus that spreads all over the world.
These four medications have received approval from the main US Food and Drug Administration: Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), Zanamivir (Relenza), and Peramivir (Rapivab).
As this contagious disease spreads, Russian authorities are keeping the President away from the public.
Putin forgoes the yearly press conference
Following a string of defeats on the Ukrainian battlefield, reports surfaced on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin had also cancelled his yearly marathon news conference, a subliminal admission that his country’s war had gone horribly wrong. According to AP news, Putin typically uses the annual ritual to spruce up his image. He fields a wide range of questions on both domestic and foreign policy to show that he has a firm grasp of the details and to appear open even though the event is carefully stage-managed.
But this current year, with his troops on the defensive in Ukraine, it also might be impossible to avoid awkward questions about the main mistakes made by the Russian military, even at a carefully staged event. Putin would not hold the news conference this month without providing a justification, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
The UK Defense Ministry stated in a commentary on Twitter that “although questions are almost certainly usually vetted in advance, the cancellation is also likely due to increasing concerns about the main prevalence of anti-war feeling in Russia.”
It said, using Moscow’s term for the conflict, “Kremlin officials are almost certainly extremely sensitive about the main possibility that any event attended by Putin could be hijacked by unauthorised discussion about the “special military operation.” This year, Putin also cancelled another yearly tradition—a call-in television programme where he answered questions from the current general public to promote his father-of-the-nation persona. Press conferences by Putin.
Since taking office in 2000, Putin has regularly held a press conference in December.
Putin answers questions from the press and also the public in a marathon session that typically lasts several hours during the media gathering, a significant political event in the nation.
Although about 500 Russian and foreign journalists were invited, many were unable to apply for accreditation due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to The Moscow Times.
Numerous independent media outlets, including Novaya Gazeta, reportedly did not receive invitations.
The BBC claims that Putin’s lengthy press conferences, which drew a large number of domestic and foreign journalists, were expertly stage-managed.
During these conferences, Putin has covered a wide range of topics, from answering questions from local reporters about bad roads to offering geopolitical commentary.
However, detractors mock these conferences as stage performances, claiming that all they do is allow pro-Kremlin journalists to flatter the president. Even though a few independent journalists were present, they claimed that they were rarely given the chance to ask questions.
This year, Putin also cancelled another yearly tradition—a call-in television programme where he answered questions from the general public to promote his father-of-the-nation persona.
Additionally, he has not yet fulfilled a constitutional requirement by giving the annual, televised state of the nation address to parliament.
Fear of war terrorises the Kremlin?
Some have hypothesised that the Kremlin may have been alarmed by the anti-war sentiment in Russia in light of recent successes in Ukraine.
Officials at the Kremlin are almost certainly very sensitive to the possibility that unapproved discussion about the “special military operation” could derail any event that Putin attends.
According to John Sullivan, a former US ambassador to Russia, this was a warning about his domestic support.
He would prefer to bring out Viktor Bout and have him read the lines. Sadly, if you believe those were his exact words, you are mistaken. The Kremlin is speaking there. The Kremlin has criminalised the dissemination of any kind of information that differs from the official view, including calling the campaign a war, and muzzled any criticism of its invasion of mainly Ukraine from the liberal anti-war camp.
However, it has come under increasing fire from Russian hardliners who have criticised the president as being indecisive and weak and called for intensifying strikes against Ukraine.
Putin cancelled the main annual news conference because “he has also nothing to say from the current point of view of strategy,” according to political analyst Abbas Gallyamov, who was quoted by CBS.
Putin’s decision to cancel the main news conference and his inability to date to deliver the current main state of the nation address, according to pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov, both reflect his uncertainty about the best course of action going forward.
He asked in his writing, echoing calls from hardliners for stepping up missile strikes on Ukraine, “Shall we forge ahead and also defeat the enemy?” Or, on the other hand, should we get ready for a challenging but necessary compromise?
The recent attack on military airfields located far inside of Russia has caused Putin serious concern, according to General SVR’s Telegram channel.
The source added that it is anticipated that Putin and his family will also spend the New Year in a bunker east of the Ural Mountains.
Attacks on military airfields in country Russia have “seriously alarmed” Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a different Telegram channel that claims to receive intelligence from Kremlin informants.
Despite the president’s directive to tighten security at key locations, Vladimir Putin’s already onerous security measures have actually increased. Putin has started to spend more time in locations resembling bunkers, it continued.
Given that Putin fielded numerous inquiries regarding Ukraine during his four-hour event in 2021, the Kremlin’s worries are understandable.
According to The Moscow Times, Putin responded to a query about a potential conflict with Kyiv in December by saying, “This is not our main choice, we do not want this.”
Since the beginning of the invasion, when Moscow anticipated fighting to last only a few days before Kyiv’s surrender, his opinions on Ukraine have significantly changed.
Putin only issued a “long military intervention” warning last week in regards to Ukraine.
That occurred as the conflict’s one-year anniversary is quickly approaching and Russian forces have fallen short of most of their major military objectives, such as overthrowing the Ukrainian government, seizing the Donbas region, and annexing four territories.
As for mainly how long it will take to see the results of the special military operation, Putin acknowledged that it will take time.
However, Russian forces were never able to fully control any of the regions, and last month, a months-long Ukrainian counteroffensive forced them out of Kherson, the region’s capital.
After a string of great defeats on the battlefield, particularly in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, Putin announced in September that Russia was mobilising hundreds of thousands of people to support Moscow’s struggling forces.
Fighting in Ukraine has centred on the industrial Donbas since Kherson City was taken, where Russian forces are attempting to take the frontline city of Bakhmut.
Since 2014, when Moscow-backed separatists took control of the Donbass region close to the Russian border and Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula, Russian forces have been partially in control of the Donetsk region.
Long-running rumours regarding Putin’s health have gotten worse over the past 12 months. The Russian president may have at least one undiagnosed illness, according to The Sun.
The political science associate professor at the University of New Hampshire, Lawrence C. Reardon, was quoted by Newsweek as saying, “No doubt the health divisions of the main world’s intelligence agencies have been also investigating similar tells and rumours. Putin staged several of his shirtless vacation videos riding horses and using weapons to demonstrate not only that he was young, strong, and healthy, but also that he had no known illnesses.
“This was very unusual behaviour for a world leader, and other G-7 leaders made fun of it in February. They may have been making jokes because they thought they knew more about Putin’s health. All conjecture, but such conduct was extremely odd for Putin and other world leaders,” he continued.
Putin will soon leave office, according to Russian political analyst Valery Solovey, according to RadarOnline.
He will undoubtedly depart before 2024. Even though it depends on his health, it’s possible he’ll make his exit known before the new year.
A claim that the Kremlin is experiencing a significant flu outbreak that has infected several officials surfaced on Wednesday. Putin is reportedly planning to withdraw soon.
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, “the Kremlin is full of sick people.”
Russia has been hard-hit by the H1N1 flu, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
The Federal Service for the main Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection’s Anna Popova told the news organisation, “Yes, the flu arrived this year. The fact that the flu variant in question is the one that poses the greatest threat to health is the situation’s most unpleasant aspect. This 2009 pandemic year’s H1N1 influenza A virus. It first appeared in 2009 as a flu strain with a high potential for spread, which started the 2009–2020 pandemic.
The New York Post reported that Putin recently fell at his official Moscow home, causing him to “involuntarily defecate,” citing a Telegram channel with what appeared to be connections to Putin’s security team.
The 70-year-old also reportedly fell five steps before landing on his tailbone, per the report. Due to “cancer also affecting his stomach and bowels,” the impact caused Putin to “involuntarily defecate,” according to the Telegram channel.
Putin’s hands notably began to shake and turn purple during a meeting with his counterpart from Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, last month, according to the UK publication Express. According to the report, he was seen moving his legs in an uncomfortable manner.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
